The Equinox 3.28.19

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THE EQUINOX The student voice of Keene State College

Vol. 72 , Issue #20

Thursday, March 28, 2019

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Beto O’Rourke Visits KSC

2020 Democratic Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke makes a stop in Keene on campaign trail ERIN MCNEMAR

Managing ExEcutivE Editor With Presidential Primaries less than one year away, New Hampshire is beginning to see candidates making their way through the swing state.

On Tuesday, March 19, Keene State College students, faculty, staff and community members filled the Student Center atrium to see Democratic Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke speak. According to KSC President Melinda Treadwell, having a Presidential candidate at the college is an honor and a huge responsibility. “This is the kickoff for us really. Being engaged and helping our students and this community have access to the potential candidates to seek presidency in the country is a huge burden and an honor,” Treadwell said. “It’s incredible. For me, the fact that the candidates want to come to our campus and engage this community is really important and a big part of what we should be doing.”

The event was set to begin at 6:40 p.m. but didn’t start until a little past 8:00 p.m. due to O’Rourke’s drive from Penn State, where he was that morning, taking longer than expected.

When he arrived, O’Rourke was introduced by former gubernatorial candidate and KSC almuna, Molly Kelly.

Kelly talked about the importance of voting by delivering the message, “Your voice, your vote.” While Kelly did not officially endorse O’Rourke, she said that 2020 will bring a new President to the White House.

During his speech, O’Rourke addressed issues of immigration, wealth inequality, criminal justice reform, healthcare and climate change. Primarily, O’Rourke focused on the concept of unity. “Looking back, let’s be proud of what we did together. This is our moment of truth,” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke also spoke about the necessary changes he feels need to happen in America, and called upon the audience to help. “This is on every single one of us. There’s strength in numbers,” O’Rourke said.

The majority of those who attended the event were KSC students. Sophomore and Political Science major Celia Rodgers, who is a fan of O’Rourke, attended the event to see him speak in person. “I’m very interested in Beto. He’s a really good candidate and I have hopes for his campaign,” Rodgers said.

Having done research on his policies prior to the rally, Rodgers said, “I love his policies. I really enjoy his thoughts on prison reforms and immigration reforms as well as the global climate change reforms that he’s proposing. Overall

I really enjoy his line of thinking in general.”

Fellow Sophomore Chloe Labrie also came to the event after having done some research on O’Rourke. While Labrie did not agree with all his policies, especially those concerning the environment, she still felt it was important to attend his speech. “I’m trying to get a feel for all the candidates,” Labrie said. “I think it’s really awesome that he’s coming to campus. I think it’s important to get college students really into the political game.”

While some students came to the event well-informed on his policies, some came to learn more about them. Sophomore Benny Russell said, “I decided to come because he could be the future President, and it’s cool to see someone like that and to say you have seen them,” Russell continued. “Also I need to do more research into the Democratic candidates to see who I’m rooting for when it comes to the big elections. I haven’t done as much research as I should so I figured this was a good place to start.”

Russell said due to the number of candidates, he finds it hard to keep track of all their different policies. However, Russell said, “I’m excited to see what he has to say.”

The rally was also attended by a group of protesters.

Charles Smith, who has lived in the Keene community for 15 years, heard about the event on the radio earlier that day.

“I was bringing fruit home with my son and we heard on the radio that [O’Rourke] was going to be here. So I asked my son if he wanted to go on an adventure,” Smith said.

Smith said that both him and his son have conservative ideologies and decided to attend the event to demonstrate

their first amendment right. Smith held up a sign that read, “Thank God for Trump” prior to the rally. Smith said, “I say ‘Thank God for Trump.’ There’s a saying, Jimmy Carter gave us Ronald Reagan. I was wondering who Barack Obama was going to give us and he gave us Donald Trump.

This guy is killing it.”

While President Trump has received criticism about his border wall and accusations of being anti-immigration, Smith said that’s not the case. “We’re not against immigration. We’re against line cutters, we’re not against immigration. Immigration is what made this country and we have to acknowledge that. But illegal immigration is just wrong,” Smith said.

Although there was no knowledge of the rally until Monday night by the college, the event was able to come together through the help of the KSC Democrats. Sophomore and the group’s president, Davis Bernstein, said, “Beto’s team reached out to the administration first to make sure this was a viable day, and then they reached out to me just to see if I could do anything to help out. That’s all I’ve been doing, just trying to be as helpful as possible and making sure this event goes smoothly.”

Bernstein explained the importance of having different candidates come to campus and speak. “I think it’s very important. People get their views from candidates more ingrained when they actually meet them. It’s great because even if you are just a Democrat, there might be a different end of the spectrum you’re on and seeing these politicians can help you find out what you believe in,” Bernstein said.

Over the course of the next year, Bernstein said the group hopes to host many more candidates from both parties. “We welcome most candidates here. We want their viewpoints to be here in public for students to see and help them voice their own opinions,” Bernstein said.

Erin McNemar can be contacted at emcnemar@kscequinox.com.

“This is on every single one of us.

There’s strength in numbers.”

-Beto O’Rourke

LUKE STERGIOU / PHOTO EDITOR

On Tuesday, March 19, Keene State College recieved a visit from Democratic Presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke. Keene was the first stop in his campaign through the state of New Hampshire.

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Thursday, March 28, 2019

Discussing student debt Senator Maggie Hassan comes to KSC to speak with students, faculty and staff TEDDY TAUSCHER

equiNox staff On Thursday, March 21, Senator Maggie Hassan sat down with Keene State College alumni and students to discuss student debt and the affect it has on their lives.

Attendants shared their stories with the United States senator. “The way laws get changed are when there are specific examples,” Hassan said.

The purpose of the sit-down was to address student loan debt.

“We know New Hampshire has the highest student loan debt in the country,” Hassan said.

According to the Institute for College Access and Success, a non profit group that works to make education more available and affordable, Keene State students graduated in 2017 with an average of 40,195 dollars in student loans.

One commonality among the students was that almost all of them were first generation college students and most of them had many other siblings. “It’s hard for them to understand,” said one first generation Keene State student, in reference to her parents.

Another barrier for college that was discussed was that the information required to apply for financial aid is sometimes not known or families don’t feel comfortable sharing it.

The discussion focused on both the application process for financial support before college and the process of dealing with debt when students graduate.

In addition to students and alumni, there were also many others in attendance like an employee of the Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) Tracy Smiley. Smiley shared her experiences helping children

from foster homes apply for and graduate college.

One student she advised who had dropped out of college told her it was “more lucrative to stay at Dunkin Donuts than work for social services,” which would require him to finish college. Another student she helped dropped out of college without realising that they had taken out student loans and would now have to pay them back.

One complaint of Hassan’s was that colleges were not making their completion rate clear, nor the expected income vs debt that students will have after college.

In the past, Hassan has pushed for more opportunities for debt relief for students. According to a press release by her office, in 2019 she helped introduce a bill that would allow employers to pay up to 5,250 dollars of employees’ student loans tax free.

Hassan was also critical of the current administration. According to Hassan, the current Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos, is trying to make it harder for students to get financial aid.

Also in attendance were the TRIO(Provides academic support services to students) staff at Keene State who gave their experiences with helping students with their student loans. “Access is not opportunity when it comes to higher education,” said Educational Counselor Mark SchmidlGagne.

The Director of External Relations at Keene State Steve Fortier was in attendance not in a professional role, but instead to talk of his own experience with college debt. His concern was with the public service loan forgiveness program, which many of his family members depend on. His worry is that the program will be

dismantled by the current administration. In President Donald Trump’s proposed 2020 budget program, it has been removed.

According to an article in Forbes

by Robert Farrington, this proposed change would affect loans taken after July 2020.

Internship Coordinator for Academic and Career Advising Kristin Mehalick-Brooks works at Keene State and is currently trying to pay off over 100,000 dollars in student loan debt. “It’s a really big burden. It is something that I look at almost weekly or monthly,” Mehalick-Brooks said.

Another challenge she and many others face is refinancing the student loans, because they are so large and there are many factors can lead to them being rejected. Despite her debt, Mehalick-Brooks doesn’t regret her choice to go to college but instead laid out what she would’ve done differently to graduate with less debt.

“I would educate myself on available scholarships, opportunities, and I would educate myself on the FAFSA Process,” MehalickBrooks said.

According to Hassan, while there is a little chance of agreement in the senate on more federal funding for students, streamlining the application processes is something both parties can agree on.

“There is a real opportunity in the senate for both parties to come together,” Hassan said.

Teddy Tauscher can be contacted at ttauscher@kscequinox.com.

“Access is not opportunity when it comes to higher education.”

-Mark Schmidl-Gagne

RYAN PELIGRINELLI / EQUINOX STAFF

Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan (above) met with KSC students, faculty and staff on Thursday, March 21, to discuss the increasing issue of student debt for students in New Hampshire.

KSC Campus Senate convenes March 20 RACHEL VITELLO

News editor The Keene State College Campus Senate met on Wednesday, March 20. Senate Chair Saram Ghatak called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. Attendance was taken and the minutes from the last meeting on Feb. 13 were approved.

During the courtesy period, Senator Greg Knouff brought up the Campaigns and Elections interdisciplinary minor that was approved by the senate at the last meeting, but the proposal never went through the school curriculum committee.

It was noted that the proposal was not submitted to the deans of all the schools necessary. As there were no objections, the proposal for the program will still move forward.

President Melinda Treadwell then discussed KSC’s sustainability and vitality bridge strategic plan. The

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final draft will be delivered to the full campus at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

“What you will see is a two-page narrative that frames that plan and then three years of action commitments for the campus that will flow from that,” Treadwell said.

Treadwell then discussed the state budget and how the college is working actively with the state legislature.

KSC is planning for a strategic one-time investment ask of nine million dollars to go towards substance abuse, healthcare resources, an optics program for the project design major, physics and mathematics.

Treadwell also gave an update on the college budget and predictions for the end of the fiscal year. “We overawarded financial aid this year because we yielded more students than we projected. It pulls down a bit on our total revenue as a campus,” Treadwell said. “It’s a good problem to have. In the long-term this will be a good and appropriate investment.”

The potential for other presidential candidates to

visit campus, upon Beto O’Rourke and Bernie Sanders coming to Keene in the last two weeks, was also discussed.

Each of the subcommittees spoke. The Academic Policy Committee (APC) discussed changes to the registrar’s office policy, catalog policies, commencement requirements and graduation requirements.

A single packet of final changes for considerations by the senate was provided. “Rather than break down all of these changes by the individual registrar’s office policies, the APC would like to offer the entire block of policies to be approved as a motion by the KSC senate,” Knouff said. The motion was passed.

The Academic Standards Committee (ASC) proposed changes to the course retake policy, where students would need to provide the registrar’s office with written permission from the department to retake a course for a third time.

This was approved by the senate. The ASC proposed

changes to the catalog policy to include the KSC Honors program and to change the use of some pronouns in the policy. Senator Nick Germana moved that rather than the use of the word “the” is some instances, the phrase “the student” be used instead to make the statement grammatically correct, while still gender inclusive. Senator Donna Smyth approved the change. The change to the policy as amended was accepted by the senate.

The Senate Curriculum Committee (SCC) moved the senate to approve IIPhysics 342, which was approved by the senate.

The SCC proposed revisions to the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, which was also approved by senate.

There were no items of new business.

Rachel Vitello can be contacted at rvitello@kscequinox.com.

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Thursday, March 28, 2019

Transitioning to life after college RACHEL VITELLO

News editor It’s the time of year where upcoming college graduates are sending out resumes and setting up their job interviews. While this transition may seem daunting to many, there are resources and tools to make it easier. On Tuesday, March 19 a panel entitled “Transitioning to Life After College” was held in the Science Center. This panel included five recent graduates of varying locations and universities who shared their experiences and lessons they have learned during life after graduation.

The issues discussed ranged from social problems like maintaining and creating friendships to financial and workplace struggles. How to make friends post graduation was a topic that many on the panel are still figuring out. Senior Program Support Assistant for Academic and Career Advising Catherine Lee was one of the panelists.

Lee recently graduated from University of New Hampshire in 2014.

“There’s not a way to prepare for friendships after college,” Lee said. “Your friend isn’t down the hall, you’re not going to a dining hall where you see 25 people you know at once. That’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t create that environment outside of college. How am I establishing these friendships post graduation? Well, that’s still waters I’m navigating.”

Keene Young Professionals Network was one resource that two panelists used after graduation to meet people outside of their workplace. This network connects local professionals who are in their 20s to their 40s by hosting social events.

Learning how to be uncomfortable and how to thrive and grow was another important piece of post-grad life the panelists explored. The panelists agreed that making sure work is not the centerpiece of life is

important. Assistant Editor at Florentine Films Brian Lee was another panelist. Brian is originally from the Bahamas, graduated from an art and design college in Georgia and made his way to Keene for an internship with Florentine Films after graduation.

“I didn’t have any family in the states. I was very excited to prove myself,” Brian said. “In that way, I thought work was the entirety of my life. Realizing that outside of work is just as important was a huge realization for me. Early on, I thought I had something to prove, but knowing how to take care of yourself helps with what you’re doing day to day.”

KSC alum ‘15 and member of Keene City Council Maggie Rice was also a panelist. Rice spoke on the importance of having interests and activity outside of work postgrad. After being unsatisfied with her work in Manchester, Rice moved back to Keene to pursue the pre-med track at New Hampshire Technical Institute and found her niche in other work as well.

“I encourage everyone to do things other than just work because it can’t just be your life,” Rice said. “I put myself out there and I ran for city council now a big change I’ve experienced after college is having way more friends of all different ages, and hanging out with different people has been really important to my life.”

According to the panelists, one of the larger logistical issues after graduating college is maintaining finances. New England College alum ‘18 Anthony Boame was one of the panelists and he stressed that saving money should be a priority for all recent graduates, even if it means sacrificing a few social events.

To combat overspending, Rice said she started creating an Excel spreadsheet to organize her financial priorities, like gas, rent and student loans and separate them from other less important spending like

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OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

going out to eat. The app ‘Mint’ was another resource suggested by some panelists that helps track spending trends and create limits for certain spending.

“Every dollar should have a name to it,” Brian said. “You should know exactly where each dollar is going, even if it’s just spending money.”

Rice also suggested that once a gradu-

ate gets their first full time job, they should visit their human resources department and have it set up so a portion of their paycheck goes directly to their savings account. This way, that money is never even seen and not tempted to be spent.

All in all, the panelists made the point that no recent graduate has everything figured out and that “there’s no road map”,

according to one panelist, on how life postgrad should go. KSC alum ‘17 Melina Comstock said, “It’s a good time to do things you’ve never done before.”

Rachel Vitello can be contacted at rvitello@kscequinox.com.

Economic Development Committee meets RACHEL VITELLO

News editor On Tuesday, March 19, the Economic Development Committee met in Keene City Hall. According to the city of Keene’s official website, this committee works, “To take an inventory of economic development and redevelopment efforts happening in Keene and the Monadnock region with the intent of identifying potential opportunities for collaboration.” This meeting is of significance to Keene State College because potential collaboration between KSC, the city and local community colleges was discussed.

The topic of discussion for the meeting was workforce development training and education.

Provost and Vice President for academic affairs at Franklin Pierce University James DuMond spoke about how FPU can help better support the workforce and the community in the Monadnock region. “We reach out as much as we can.

We sponsor Radically Rural and the Trendsetter’s Awards,” DuMond said. “This is something we really believe in, giving back to the community as much as we can.”

One issue of importance for FPU is student retention and keeping graduates in the Monadnock region upon finishing college here. This is also a topic of relevance for KSC officials right

now, and one of the reasons the campus climate survey is done.

“We are highly invested in seeing students stay in this region,” DuMond said. “If we have been successful in attracting them to our institution first, we really want to see them have these internship opportunities and to become part of the workforce in this region.”

Keene City Manager Elizabeth Dragon discussed a meeting she had with Keene mayor Kendall Lane and with FPU President Kim Mooney about how to connect college students in the region with local employers. “The possibility of some sort of event, like a workforce connect event, where students would be invited through maybe some sort of application to participate and then we could match them up with employers,” Dragon said.

A representative for the Cheshire Career Center in Keene was also present at the meeting. The career center serves 927 children, mostly Keene High School students. They help students gain advanced job skills and various certifications in multiple lines of work, like business, automotive and culinary arts. The Cheshire Career Center is in the beginning stages of working with KSC to create a program that helps prepare these students for college. It is early in the process however, so there is no further informa-

tion at this time.

Coordinator of Workforce and Community Education at River Valley Community College in Claremont Dan Osborn spoke at the meeting about multiple issues facing RVCC and what the school is doing to move forward and collaborate with Keene and KSC. KSC President Melinda Treadwell spoke at the last Economic Development Committee meeting about future partnerships with community colleges to help make transfers simpler going forward.

“That, we hope, is a step in the right direction to increasing partnerships and college credit transfer and degree transfer between us and Keene State,” Osborn said. “It will help to get kids who otherwise may not see the financial pathway to a four-year degree. Now, if they can take classes both at River Valley and at a fouryear school at the same time, is nothing but a win-win for everybody.”

The Economic Development Committee meets on the third Tuesday of every month on the second floor of Keene City Hall.

Interested in writing for news?

Contact:

Rachel Vitello can be contacted at rvitello@kscequinox.com.

SEBASTIEN MEHEGAN / ADMINISTRATIVE EXECUTIVE EDITOR

STUDENT ASSEMBLY PUJA THAPA

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NEWS EDITOR RACHEL VITELLO (781)812-7461 KSCEQUINOX.COM

The Student Assembly was called to order at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. In the New Business Section, The Owl Sign Language club and the academic organization GEODES did a funding request in front of the assembly. The OSL club requested $400 to get the rights to show the movie “The Quiet Place” during American Sign Language Awareness Day to help increase awareness for the deaf community. The funding request was approved unanimously.

GEODES requested $2,000 from Student Assembly to lead their annual field geology trip to around Nevada.

GEODES will provide $4,000 from their own budget and is requesting $2,000 from Student Assembly. Each of their 12 members is also contributing $400 each.

The funding request was approved unanimously.

In the Discussion and Action Section, Vice President for Enrollment Manage-

ment, Strategy, and Communication Jeff Holeman asked the student leaders to help the college in their new project of making the use of digital and online services and tools easy. Holeman said the project is critical to build a better student experience and to retain the existing students. Holeman said he will shortly send a short survey to the student leaders and asked students to provide feedback. The students discussed how the current student planning service is confusing and time consuming.

Holeman said he will pass their concerns to the relevant authority.

At the end of the meeting, the student leaders brainstormed on how to make student government known to the new students and how to spread the word regarding what important works the government does on campus.

Puja Thapa can be contacted at pthapa@kscequinox.com

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OPINIONS

Opinions / A4

Thursday, March 28, 2019

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EDITORIAL

HATE LIST

When disliking isn’t a strong enough emotion People will often say they hate someone who has a different set of views than them. Rather than getting angry at people who don’t share the same opinion as you, use the conversation as an opportunity to understand each other. Sometimes it takes stepping into the other person’s shoes to fully understand why they have a certain set of beliefs. It could be anything from how they were brought up to a personal experience they had.

Anger and hate can be a consequence of lack of understanding.

Help someone understand your point and listen to theirs. Being open is super important because once you push away people who have different views than you,

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it can make them feel more passionate on their beliefs.

The act of judging multiple people who share common interests and understandings equals generalizations.

You can dislike something a country stands for or a law that is enforced in a specific state, but don’t generalize that area and then hate everyone in it without getting to know them or their personal values.

However, sometimes hate can be justified to some people. Often times we feel bad for “hating” someone because others say we should not. But ultimately, to hate or not to hate is our choice as people. We feel things that sometimes others do not, and we should not have to feel bad for having those feelings. Most of

To contact the Equinox, e-mail smehegan@kscequinox.com

Sebastien Mehegan Administrative Executive Editor Erin McNemar Managing Executive Editor

the time we do not feel bad for loving someone, so why should feel bad for hating someone or something? It is one of our emotions, and to ignore that would be maybe just as harmful as holding grudges.

Everyone feels emotions - that’s just how we work - but how we choose to express them reflects on who we are as a person. If you don’t care about a public figure, an ex or a former friend, why bother following them on social media or asking people about them? It’s because deep down you want to know what they’re doing. You can only hate people you care about, at least a little. Hate is a dangerous expression, so when writing people on your hate list, be careful who you write down,

EQUINOX NEWSROOM

EDITORIAL POLICY

Faculty Advisor

The Equinox is a designated public forum. Student editors have full editorial control over the entire content of the paper.

All articles and opinion pieces are assigned, written and edited by students without censor by administrators, faculty or staff.

The Equinox is published Thursdays during the academic year with dates immediately preceding and following holidays omitted. The advertising deadline is 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to publication. The Equinox reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason. Advertising is not accepted until it appears in the paper.

Letters to the editor must be written exclusively to The Equinox and are due by noon on the Friday prior to publishing.

All letters must include name and phone number for verification. The Equinox reserves the right to edit for style and length, and refuse any letters to the editor. For clarification and additional information on any above policies call 3582414. The Equinox business office is open Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Rodger Martin, Journalism faculty (rmartin@kscequinox.com ) Julio Del Sesto, Journalism faculty (jdelsesto@keene.edu)

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Opinions Editor

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MISSION: The Equinox exists to promote the free flow of information, to protect the First Amendment, to stimulate high standards in the practice of journalism and to foster excellence among student journalists.

because you might hate something they did or say, but you might not hate them entirely as a person.

While hate is a perfectly normal emotion, holding grudges about certain topics can be unhealthy.

Although it might seem like what the person did was unforgivable, with time, most things can be forgiven.

Once you move on and let go of hate, it can be a huge relief. Hating someone can take a lot more energy than it’s worth. Rather than holding on to that anger, find ways to spread love. There is already so much hate in the world, don’t add to it.

Equinox Staff: Eli Felix, Izzy Harris, Emily Carstensen, Iris Pruletti, Haleigh Patch, Amanda Bevis, Alex Harvey, Katie Jensen, Kyle Wilson, Lindsay Gibbons, Julia Hawkins, McHale Burgess, Gwen Phillips, Jacqueline Pantano, Alyssa Borenko, Henry Hobson, Joe Guzman, David Payson, Brandon Moulton, Julia Guidi, Ethan Platt, Austin Cook, Anna Heindl, Matthew Kahlman, Emily Perry, Adriana Daniel, Jayden Rodgers, Soren Frantz, Nina Kljic, Bree Norton, Luke Sweeny, Jack Cimino, Sam Binigono, Sara Olson, Cal Sylvia, Ryan Pelligrinelli, Paxton Blanchard, and Matthew Barriga.

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Thursday, March 28, 2019

STAFF COMMENTARY

a

dangerous emotion

STAFF COMMENTARY

Daylight savings: One of time’s biggest frienemies ISABELLA PRATT

EquinOx staff

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

Hate is more than turning a cold shoulder KIANA WRIGHT

OpiniOns EditOr Break ups and falling outs are one of the hardest and strangest occurrences during life. One moment you and your best friend are buying matching “best friend forever” bracelets and within a blink of an eye, you tell them you never want to see them again. You’ll be in love with someone, feel like you never have before and think “this is it, they’re the one,” until you snap and the relationship crumbles. Frank Dauenhauer, former technical writer and editor at Eastman Kodak Products and Services explained why someone experiences hate, “To hate someone is to be inextricably subject to that person’s injustices, or the infliction of pain or unpleasantness. If you are or can be hurt by another person’s words or deeds, you fear that person. When that person actually does hurt you, you react with hatred and the desire to remove yourself from that person’s presence and power over you.”

Hatred is a very strong emotion, much different than being angry or annoyed. Something has to change your entire perspective about someone to say you without a doubt hate them. When you feel like this about a person, it because of everything about them. From when they walk in the same room as you, if you hear them talk, and even as little as someone saying their name. Dauenhauer goes on to say, “If you can and do

get away from that person, the immediate fear and hatred subside, but if that person ever gets close to you or can hurt you again, the hatred will resurge, and may cause you to react irrationally and destructively.”

Whoever feels hate, someone or something made them feel that way—so many believe that’s how they should react back to the problematic person. But no matter how mean, cruel or rude that person is, being the same way back to them isn’t solving anything. But hate doesn’t always mean wanting to hurt that person; it’s just an emotion that each person handles a different way—it’s how they react to it that makes them who they are. Single mom and writer Kate Madenwell explains that hating someone is a waste of your time, and it says more about you than the other person. “When you hate someone, it is not reflection of the person, but it is a reflection of you. Hate is an unnecessary emotion. It doesn’t do you any good. It doesn’t do the person any good. It doesn’t do anyone any good.”

Now, no one is saying this is going to be a piece of cake—it definitely isn’t as sweet. It’s hard to get over something drastic that happened to you, it can take years to overcome, but in the end it’ll help you. Madenwell said, “Whatever that person did that you hate, forgive them. You can’t change what happened. Let go and move on to the next chapter of your life that you can love. You’re in full control of what emotions you let into your life. Don’t let it be emotions as useless and toxic

as hate.”

Students are strong young adults who see when people, including themselves, aren’t being treated properly. We all know who the “bad guys” are. When asked what gives you the right to hate someone on Facebook, students of Keene State College said it could be someone who is insensitive of someone else’s biological makeup, or is using inappropriate racial slurs.

Some more students thought that they might hate someone who disrespects them, their family, their belongings or anything else that’s important to them.

Other students said that after they’ve tried to be nice to someone, yet that person has gone out of their way to be mean, that’s when they feel hate towards them. As I said before, it’s okay to feel these emotions, but be careful not to dwell on it. Adding to the hate that’s already in the world is just going to give you a bad taste in your mouth.

Hate - “It has created a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet.”

-Maya Angelou Kiana Wright can be contacted at kwright@kscequinox.com

STAFF COMMENTARY

A life sentence behind bars KATIE JENSEN

thE EquinOx

The death penalty is a brutal controversy in politics and raises many questions that concern ethics and efficiency.

For years, New Hampshire Democrats have tried to abolish state capital punishment and finally succeeded on March 7 by passing a bill that would repeal the death penalty and replace it with “life without the possibility of parole.” The bill passed the New Hampshire House of Representatives with 76 percent in favor of repeal, and is currently being sent to the State Senate. Last year, Governor Chris Sununu vetoed a bill that would abolish the death penalty, however, the growing support of repeal in State Congress may have the power to override his veto.

The movement towards repeal was driven by a Concord Democrat, Safiya Wazir, who is also a refugee from Afghanistan. Wazir lamented that there is no need for “state-sponsored violence” in New Hampshire. According to the Concord Monitor, Wazir stated, “The United States has absolutely no need for capital punishment and New Hampshire should remove itself from the horrible list of states that use the death penalty.”

However, it should be noted that a majority of states in the U.S. enforce the death penalty, while twenty states have deemed it unconstitutional. Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1988, 78 defendants have been sentenced to execution, according to the Federal Death Penalty Information Center (DICP.). The DICP website stated that only three of the 78 defendants have been executed; twelve have been removed from death row, three have been given reduced sentences, and the

MIAH PINARD / EQUINOX STAFF

rest are endlessly cycling through court appeals. This begs the question, is the death penalty actually efficient?

Many of those who advocate for the death penalty claim that it solves overcrowding in prisons and relieves the burden of tax payers. On the contrary, death penalty cases are more expensive than the average homicidal case. The Marshall Project Organization reported that death penalty cases require more lawyers, more experts and time than the average case. The article states, “Every successful conviction is appealed to several state and federal courts, meaning the government pays for both prosecutors and defenders to pick over the trial transcript and for judges and clerks to spend hours reading appeals.” Furthermore, they state that it costs more to house prisoners on death row than it does to house

the general population.

When presented with this information, it seems that death penalty procedures are wildly inefficient. However, the National Criminal Justice Reference Service explained that death penalty cases must be processed slowly to avoid any errors. It would be absolutely devastating and irreversible if the state were to wrongly convict someone to death. The report states that “The higher the rate at which a state imposes death verdicts, the greater the probability that each death verdict will have to be reversed because of serious error.” The evidence reveals that capital error rates more than triple when death-sentencing rates increase from a quarter of the national average to the national average. Therefore, if the U.S. were to expedite the process, it would run the risk of wrongly convicting

more people. Ultimately, this would not make the death penalty proceedings any more efficient.

Those who oppose the death penalty vehemently argue that state capital punishment is unethical. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) is the nation’s oldest organization that is dedicated to abolishing the death penalty. The NCADP published an essay that argues “state-sanctioned killing” is immoral. Members of NCADP include religious people who believe in the sanctity of human life, civil rights activists who believe the death penalty discriminates against African Americans, and victims who were exonerated from the death penalty.

The essay by NCADP states, “One hundred fifty-six exonerees bear witness to the fact that we have made grave mistakes in the application of the death penalty.” Among them include Anthony Graves, who was sent to death row in 1994 for assisting Robert Carter in murdering a young girl. The NCADP reported that Graves was convicted based on the Carter’s testimony, despite the fact there was no physical evidence linking him to the murder. Carter finally admitted to lying in his testimony before he was executed. By the time Graves was exonerated, he already spent 18 years in prison, 16 of which he spent in solitary confinement. Although Graves received 1.45 million dollars in compensation, nothing could be done to reverse the psychological damage.

Currently, the inefficiencies surrounding the death penalty produce more unethical practices and risks.

New Hampshire currently holds only

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Anyone feeling a bit tired lately? No, not because we just got back from spring break, but maybe because we lost an hour of sleep somewhere in the mix! Daylight savings is an often forgotten thief of an hour of our lives that actually has quite an effect on our bodies. According to CBS News, American’s lose on average 40 minutes of sleep the first couple of days after this event occurs, which is pretty significant for an already sleep- deprived nation. Sleep is vital to the body’s daily recovery, and without it, functionality will be limited. When daylight savings occurs and the clocks spring forward an hour, it stays lighter longer. Think back to the old days, when people didn’t have alarm clocks or cell phones that would wake them up on command.

People would get up with the sun, and as the sun sets, go to sleep. With the daylight being longer in the afternoon, this promotes people to not only stay up and be active later, but to limit sleep in order to be more productive.

Now you may already know that sleep is important, but what really happens to your body when you only get in a couple of hours of rest? If you chronically don’t get enough sleep you will actually weaken your immune system which basically means you will get sick more, which college students already seem quite able to do on their own.

Low sleep rates also lead to developing chronic diseases earlier in life due to the lack of time your body has to reset. Everything that you put your body through throughout the day from eating; triggering the digestive system, to working out; breaking down and rebuilding muscle, to drinking; putting your liver through the ringer; all take lots of time and energy! Your body needs to rest, cells need to regenerate, and systems need to reset and relax.

If you noticed a drop in your academic performance, it could be due to a lack of studying or just lack of sleep! Once again, even more negative effects come from losing that hour to daylight savings or if you chose to watch that fifth5th Netflix episode. According to WebMD, our memory will actually be weakened and your brain will grow tired due to constant stimulation and lack of rest.

Simply getting up and chugging a coffee will not solve these problems either. So before you go to the Iinternet to try and find that homework assignment, try to get a little more sleep and use that brain for what it was meant for. Thinking and processing will get easier as you let your body rest and work the way it should.

The last few things that come from lack of sleep can be quite frightening; lower libidolabido and weight gain! Yes, that’s right, if you don’t get enough sleep you will actually lower your sex drive.

A study was conducted in young men who lost sleep over a one-week period, who then showed a decrease in testosterone levels. Sleeping five or fewer hours reduced sex hormone levels by as much as 10 to 15 percent. Also, it’s difficult enough as a college student to keep those few extra pounds off, so why not make it easier and get some rest?.

Who would’ve thought that you could improve your grades, overall health, sex drive, and lose weight by sleeping? It’s so simple it’s almost too easy!

Isabella Pratt can be contacted at Ipratt@kscequionx.com

OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

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Thursday, March 28, 2019

STAFF COMMENTARY

Supporting women in film

Cal's corner

LUKE STERGIOU / PHOTO EDITOR

Review: Rampage CAL SYLVIA

Equinox Staff

RYAN PELIGRINELLI / EQUINOX STAFF

A female film student's thoughts on the industry JACQUELINE PANTANO

Equinox Staff According to the Center for Study of Women in Television & Film, 95.7 percent of all directors are male. Merely 4.3 percent are female. This statistic was produced by analyzing the top grossing 1,100 films made from 2007 to 2017.

For every 22 male directors, there is only one female director. Women are represented by men. Incredible levels of sexualization and objectification of the female body are the consequence. There is no contrasting point of view; women do not have an equal voice. Unbalance in power, even when the power is held by open-minded, benevolent figures, leads to the submission of large parts of the population to one overpowering ideology. Women are submitted to the widespread and almost sole perspective of men.

James Cameron, renowned for having strong female leads in his films, was recently interviewed by The Guardian. He spoke about female sexualization and objectification on screen. He said, “All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over ‘Wonder Woman’ has been so misguided. She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! I’m not saying I didn’t like the movie but, to me, it’s a step

backwards. Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit.

And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female!”

“Half the population is female!” Cameron stated.

Women are underrepresented and treated as a minority.

Women are not a minority. The Center for Study of Women in Television & Film states that women make up 50 percent of the average audience. Yet, women are still told what to feel, how to act, how to dress and how to present themselves almost solely by men. A study by the University of Southern California (USC) analyzing gender, race, ethnicity and disability claims that 25 percent of female characters are presented on screen wearing ‘sexy attire’ in contrast to only 5 percent of men in similar clothing; 25 percent of female nudity is presented in comparison to only 9 percent of male nudity; finally, 10 percent of women are referred as attractive, in relation to merely 3 percent of men. There is a highly unbalanced gender representation.

Women are not being given the chance to depict themselves. They are not speaking through popular media to other women.

But Hollywood is trying. The same study by USC

claims that there was a 3 percent increase in female speaking characters between 2014 and 2015. This increase is matched by the findings of another USC study which examines the numbers of women in leading positions.

This study claims there was an increase of female directors by 5 percent in the same time frame. Furthermore, Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 won the Academy Award for best director. She is the first woman to ever win in this category.

Finally, in 2018, Rachel Morrison became the first woman to be nominated by the Academy for best cinematography.

Things are changing. About a 100 years ago, women could not even vote.

Today, men’s desires and demands are widely portrayed in mainstream media. Women’s are yet to be. When men and women’s perspectives are finally equally voiced, equality will have been achieved. Calculating the number of female speaking characters will be nonsense. Applauding the shocking win of a female director will be exaggerated and unnecessary. No one will compare the number of male directors to the one of female directors. Gender representation will be free. There will be no supremacy.

Jacqueline Pantano can be contacted at jpantano@kscqeuinox.com

Art fair in the Student Center

“Rampage,” a blockbuster starring Dwayne Johnson, is more or less a run-ofthe-mill popcorn flick. The story is fine, and the performances, while far from awardworthy, are passable, but the film, directed

by Brad Peyton, is aware that it is action its audience wants to see.

What story the film does have is interesting enough to keep the audience invested until the action kicks in. In a scene reminiscent of Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity” (2013), an astronaut (Marley Shelton) saves three research capsules from a shuttle explosion. Her escape pod explodes, but the capsules survive the blast and land on Earth unharmed. Meanwhile, U.S. army veteran and animal rights defender Davis Okoye (Johnson), realizes that his best friend George, (whose motion capture is Jason Liles,) an albino gorilla, is growing in size and undergoing a change in personality.

To cure George of his hostility, Davis must team up with Dr. Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris), a former member of the company, run by cold corporate boss Claire Wyden (Malin Akerman), responsible for the mutation of George and two other animals.

The result is a tidal wave of action, from George resisting bullets as he fights a militia aboard a plane to Davis having to find a last-minute way to save himself, Kate and government agent Harvey Russell from a horrible crash, to the three animals fighting each other on the streets of Chicago. And of course, the movie wouldn’t be complete without its share of city wreckage, slow motion and explosions. There’s even a slapstick death along the way.

The film isn’t perfect. Dialogue includes clichéd lines such as “I need a drink.” The backstory of how Davis and George met needs more than the two minutes it’s given and should occur earlier in the film. None of the film’s characters offer emotional attachment.

Still, as check-your-brain-at-the-door entertainment, the good outweighs the bad.

In addition to the thrill of the aforementioned action scenes, Akerman’s calm but stern performance fits the soulless menace of her character. After a building crumbles, grey smoke and the ruins of skyscrapers make for a powerful shot in an otherwise minimal-thought movie.

Yet the greatest triumph of the film is the original score by composer Andrew Lockington. Despite the lack of emotion emulated by the characters of the film, the score is strong in conveying the mood of the film throughout its runtime, whether that be a subtle softness during a calm scene, a melodic boom in a scene meant to be emotional or a nail-biting intensity in a fight scene. The music goes full throttle in the end battle scene and shifts to an emotionally gripping melody in its aftermath.

When all is said and done, “Rampage” is not a film that will be widely remembered in 50 years, 10 years or even five. Nevertheless, this film will satisfy anyone seeking a dose of action.

Cal Sylvia can be contacted at csylvia@kscequinox.com

BENAJIL RAI / MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR

On Friday, March 22, the Art Collective hosted an Art Fair throughout the first floor of the Student Center. According to the Art Collective, the fair consisted of "interactive screen printing demo/ shirt sales, as well as many other vendors from our local arts community." Those who attende had the opportunity to buy artwork from the artists.

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Thursday, March 28, 2019

Making strides

WKNH

Music madness

LAURA ROMANIELLO / EQUINOX STAFF

Lyrical Essay CORALINE SEKSINSKY

WKNH Music Director

CONTRIBUTED BY AFTERIMAGE

KSC band Afterimage performs at the Worcester Palladium JOSEPH GUZMAN

equiNox staff Last Sunday, one of Keene State’s biggest bands, Afterimage, played a performance at the Worcester Palladium in Massachusetts. “It was crazy, to say the least, we had an opening slot so we had to warm the crowd up. But we were booked with Death Metal giant Morbid Angel. Let me tell you, I'm singing songs about broken hearts, and their whole set is about either dying, wanting to die, or being dead. We knew going in it was going to be interesting, but we had a great time. We also had a really good response from the crowd, and someone even called us ‘brave for performing at a death metal show.’ Overall it was great for perspective and stepping out of our comfort zone,” said singer Griffin Romprey.

The band themselves are composed of Brandon Curcio on guitar, Casey Daron playing bass, Jason Coburn on keyboard, Andy LeCuyer playing drums and lead singer Griffin Romprey. Romprey had this to say about their origin, “How we came together was pretty simple, to be honest.

Our bass player (Casey Daron) wanted to participate in the Keene State Battle of the Bands competition. So he asked

a few people that he knew had an interest in music, and in doing so he recruited four members. Andrew Lecuyer (drums) Brandon Curcio (guitar) Cole Pestana (Rhythm Guitar) and Reuben Meister (Lead Singer).” Romprey continued, “It was after that battle of the bands that the group realized that they wanted to take it a little farther than just a one-off event, so they started to practice more and more. It was around this time that they lost their original singer due to commitment issues, and wound up being stuck with me.

In that exact same time period, we also picked up our keyboard player, Jason Coburn. We gigged out here and there over the course of our freshman year and lost our rhythm guitarist in the process. That was the last change in our lineup, however, and have been rather solid over the course of these past two years.“ He also confirmed that the Palladium was the largest venue that they have ever played at, seating 2,160.

In terms of people who helped get them along the way to reach feats just as this Romprey explained that, “Douglas Flood from the Pizzastock Music Festival, The band Gray Haven (a band made of Keene State Alumni) and the Oasis.

Mike Carp of Rambudikon Productions, our boys over at Revolution Bar and Grill. We also want to thank every one

of you that actually enjoys our music, it’s because of your support that we have made it this far to begin with. Also to those that hate us, because you make us appreciate those that don’t.”

With all of the support of the people that help them along the way, the boys themselves practice three times on average “on a good week.” The band also recognized the struggle of being full-time college students, “...We also have other commitments that can sometimes get in the way, whether that [is] college or just the typical twenty-year-old priorities. But we enjoy creating and refining our sound because it’s actually starting to hit a point where the people who have stuck with us since the beginning have been noticing the growth. So practice kind of has that positive reinforcement now.”

Afterimage lastly wanted to add that, “We are hoping to release a professionally produced studio single in the summer. We just have to keep playing gigs and working on our sound in the meantime.”

Joseph Guzman can be contacted at jguzman@kscequinox.com

Music education majors set up for success CRISTIAN VALENTIN

equiNox staff This week, three Keene State music education students reacted to an article published by the Keene Sentinel.

This article written by Meg McIntyre of the Keene Sentinel said, “100 percent of the college’s (Keene) music education alumni reported starting a career in the field—either in education or in performance—or entering a graduate program within one year of completing their degree.”

The three Keene State students interviewed were music education majors Grant Desmarais, Bryce Jones, and Madison Gubata. All three students responded very positively to the article, each sharing optimistic viewpoints.

Sophomore Grant Desmarais said, “It’s very hopeful that there’s been so many who have got jobs right after, it bodes well for the future.”

Sophomore Bryce Jones said this excited him, and the positive statistics for the music education department were part of the reason that he chose to come to Keene.

First-year Madison Gubata said, “It makes me feel very secure that when I graduate, I’ll be placed into a job, and I know that teaching jobs are hard to find sometimes because Music Education is such a sought after thing.”

The students also attributed a lot of this student success to the professors, with Desmarais saying they have a good influence on the statistic due to the connections they have as well as their recommendations carrying a lot of meaning.

Jones agreed with the professors having a big role, saying, “It seems like we have a lot of

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professors that are also on a lot of boards such as National Association for Music Education, so we have a lot of connections that way.”

Gubata also said, “At least here, I know the Music Education professors are extremely qualified and they’re very dedicated to their students and with their recommendations and their help, it’s very easy for people to get jobs.”

Each of the students said they feel that they have grown a lot in terms of their skills since they first arrived at Keene.

Desmarais said, “I’ve definitely changed my work ethic a lot, realizing how much work goes into music education was a reality check that I needed to work harder.” Jones said that he has grown very much due to the music department here teaching a lot of things that other schools do not. Gubata said that her most significant growth has been academically and as a performer in her time at Keene.

Desmarais, Jones, and Gubata included that the music education department has allowed them some great opportunities such as being able to go to the National American Choral Directors Conference in Kansas City, performing in the jazz band ensemble and being able to do consistent performances that allow continued growth. The students also named some of their most influential professors that they’ve had including Dr. Wright Ivanova, Professor Gilligan, and Professor Matathias.

Cristian Valentin can be contacted at cvalentin@kscequinox.com OLIVIA CATTABRIGA / ART DIRECTOR

"The personal is political." This phrase is not new to anyone of a marginalized identity. As a trans woman, my body and my identity are often put in the political meat grinder (though nowhere near as much as my QTPOC siblings). The genre of hip hop has certainly shown us the way in which art can be armed to great effect for both political and personal purposes.

The phrase in so many ways explicitly notes this, they are not explicitly separate.

In fact, they are commingled. When we live in these bodies that are made political, our personhood is... thrust into the political meat grinder. Though I fear to some extent that when we as marginalized people place above our personhood the political action, though this action is so so essential, it is critical, that we lose our personhood to that struggle. I wanted to take this chance to center on the idea of emphasizing personal in the balance between personal and political, lest we forget that after all, we are people beyond these systems that have oppressed us and pitted us against one another. Here I will draw a little on Hegel and his notion of recognition. In this theory he notes that humans, in order to be humans completely, must need to be recognised as such. Of course political songs, hearing your struggle reflected in the song, can be amazingly gratifying. Sustaining, even.

But I would say one thing, one nutrient, can’t sustain a body. We need our utter humanness to be recognised. I want here to highlight an artist that I think does well, better for me than most artists. And that is John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

His lyrical work has made me feel seen as a human with struggles seperate from my gender identity. This work has been an amazing asset to me and my humanity. There are so many artists who do great work and have nourished my body with their work, but John has shown me the depths of human understanding and understanding of myself.

The Mountain Goats as a project started in the early 90’s as a lofi folk project. Since then the Goats have gone through a great many changes through the last couple decades. One thing has maintained in this time, and that is John Darnielle's work as a lyricist exploring the depths of human pain and self sanctification. He brings his personal experience as a survivor of abuse to his music, creating a large field for people to bring their pain to. There will always be room for you. The opening line of one of their most popular songs (the song that really brought me to them when I heard it on an episode of The Walking Dead) “Up the Wolves” goes “There's bound to be a ghost at the back of your closet/No matter where you live/ There'll always be a few things, maybe several things/That you're going to find really difficult to forgive.” This line, to me, exemplifies what I mean when I say uplifting the personal in the politics as personal dynamic. This line expresses so elegantly something everyone can relate to, mistakes. We all make them. And maybe more importantly for me, we find them hard to let go and forgive. Additionally I will add that I am not saying John Darnielle is the most human songwriter ever (Though I do kind of believe that), what I am saying is that we, as marginalized folks and equally as important as humans, we need to find these spaces in the unfortunate face of the fact we are not given them by right.

And of course this is a matter of taste. John Darnielle can be a very absurd writer. The chorus to “Up the Wolves” is this: “Our mother has been absent/ Ever since we founded Rome/But there's going to be a party/When the wolf comes home.” What does that even mean? Well

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Thursday, March 28, 2019

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Unlocking imagination The circus comes to KSC PUJA THAPA

BUSINESS MANAGER The Main Theatre at Keene State College was illuminated with laughter and applause, and many children filled the room on March 23 when the famous Bindlestiff Family Cirkus performed at KSC. According to the information provided by the Redfern Arts Center, for over two decades the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus has reimagined classic American circus traditions with a unique contemporary twist to create a vibrant culture for American variety arts. One of the co-founders of Bindlestiff, Keith Nelson, said that they have a good balance between traditions and contemporariness. He said, “We have a major respect for everything that’s happened before us, we bring a lot of those traditional elements into our show, we also try to respond to what’s happening in today’s world, so there is a little bit of contemporary edge, but I feel we are pretty rooted in the traditional realm of the art form.”

According to Nelson, the use of the letter “k” in the “Cirkus” tends to give them a little more freedom. “We are not in a tent, we don’t have elephants, we don’t have horses… so, it opens it up a little bit.”

With the theme of Cardboard & Duct Tape Spectacular, the Bindlestiffs showed that some cardboard, duct tape, and creativity is all that is needed to find joy. One of the audience members, Bree Watson, pointed at her two sons and said, “It’s gonna get them thinking, like, ‘it’s just cardboard, just duct tape.’ I wouldn’t be surprised if they came home and started using all the boxes and tape and doing something with it.”

Nine-year-old Ozias Watson said he enjoyed the color and the energy of the circus.

The variety in ages of the audience members went along with the wide variety in performances. Saturday afternoon at the Redfern was filled with juggling, aerobatics, aerial acts and humor. Director of the Redfern Arts Center Shannon Mayers said around 300 tickets were sold. She said that the event was a success. When asked about any future plans with Bindlestiff, Mayers said, “It [would] be kind of fun to bring them and do something outside with them.”

The show was followed by a post-show meet-and-greet and reception with Bindlestiff. Mayers said, “For little kids, it’s such a big deal to be able to see people who are up on the stage doing stuff, and they come see [the performers] right in front of them, that is always fun.”

Nelson said, “I think we had a really good time. Everyone’s still hanging out, nobody is throwing rotten fruit at us, I think it went well.” Nelson said thank you to Keene State for supporting live entertainment. He added by saying, “Put your phone down, don’t look at your Facebook, pay for your ticket and enjoy human beings doing amazing things.”

Puja Thapa can be contacted at pthapa@kscequinox.com

SOREN FRANZ / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

On Saturday, March 23, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus performed at Keene State College in the Redfern Arts Center's Main Theater. The event was open to the public with purchase of a ticket.

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STUDENT LIFE

Student Life, B1

Thursday, March 28, 2019

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Delta Xi’s sweetie-pie

CONTRIBUTED BY MADISON OLSEN

The sisters of Delta Xi Phi pose with the contestants and winner (Jack Hanson, The Equinox Student Life Editor center, wearing a crown) of their pageant, which was held in the Mabel Brown Room.

Multicultural sorority hosts a pageant fundraiser CLAIRE BOUGHTON

Cheshire Medical, which is only a small portion of the charity work the sorority has done.

However, charity took backstage the moment the contestants stepped out from behind the curtain. In each round, the six contestants showcased their very best.

In round one, Bailee Mullally, president of Psi Upsilon, showed off her Saturday morning best with her big blanket and red heart pillow.

Round two was captured by Jarrod Bernier, a sophomore at Keene State College, who told the crowd about his participation for the past several years in the Renaissance Fair. “[I have done] charity work for food drives and things like that through the New Hampshire Renaissance Fair,” explained Bernier in a post-interview. “I haven’t really led any community service or

any fundraiser kind of thing, so I hope to do that more in my future.”

In round three, Paulina Torres, a first-year at Keene, captivated the audiences with her cover of a Spanish song. She played her guitar and sang her heart out while the crowd watched on.

Round four had all the contestants in their best attire for the advancement of women in higher education event. This was followed by round five where contestants were asked questions like “what does multiculturalism mean to you,” “what is the most important aspect of friendship to you,”, etc.

The event came to a close with the crowning ceremony. Marnie Fryer and Paulina Torres were announced as the Sweetie-Pie runner ups. Jack Hanson, [Student Life Editor for the Equinox] a sophomore at Keene State

was crowned as the winner of the Sweetie-Pie pageant.

“This event really stressed what Delta Xi Phi represents,” said Emilee Hastleton, sophomore and a new member of DXP. “Inclusivity and embracing the multicultural world that there is to offer! Each difference of each individual helps make the world a brighter place.

D-Xi Sweetie-Pie helps bring light to those differences.”

If you would like any more information about the Sweetie-Pie event of Delta Xi Phi you can contact Emily Foy at emily.foy@ksc.keene.edu

Choosing digital over hardcopy

Sustainability using pictures

Equinox Staff Talent, acceptance, inclusivity, and a little bit of strutting-your-stuff took center stage in the Mabel Brown Room on March 23 at the Delta Xi Sweetie-Pie pageant.

A supportive crowd gathered at noon to watch the six contestants participate in five separate events showing off everything from their Saturday morning best to their thoughts on multicultural awareness.

The event was held as a fundraiser for the Cheshire Medical Center, explained Emily Foy, president of Delta Xi Phi and one of the judges for the pageant.

“We felt it was important to give back to the community we are living in during these years of college,” said Foy. The Sweetie-Pie pageant ended up raising $300 for

Students’ main source of information comes from the Internet WILLIAM PATTI

Equinox Staff In the age of social media, an informal survey showed that the Internet has become the most common way for Keene State students to learn about current events.

There has been a huge increase in the number of online news outlets, and a lot of controversy regarding the political bias of several major news stations like FOX and CNN. Online streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu have changed the way people watch TV, phasing out live television. These factors have caused viewers to cross over to Internet news sources and social media for news in current events.

15 Keene State College students were randomly surveyed, and 10 were interviewed and asked where they typically find their news. None of the students questioned said they typically got their news from television news stations.

Rather, it appears that KSC students go to social media for their news. Of the ten students interviewed, two students said they went to Twitter for their news, and two responded that their main source of news was Google alerts on their phones.

There were three students who indicated they learned their current events from Instagram, and the last three students selected Facebook, Reddit, and Apple news alerts respectively.

Not a single student surveyed got their news from a reputable news source such as Reuters, or a major national newspaper such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times rather social media posts and live feeds. This creates a problem because social media is known for click-bait, shady unreliable news sites, and typically contains more opinion than fact.

According to an article that can be found on newsmediaalliance.org, “While real news sites see only about ten percent of their traffic coming in from

social media, according to the Stanford report, fake news sites get nearly fortytwo percent of their traffic from social media links. Because standard news sites are easy to visit through direct browsing, and are also categorized by search engines as news.”

Because mainstream news sites utilize search engines, apps, and other legitimate ways of promoting themselves, they don’t focus on social media posting as one of their main priorities. This leaves room for fake news sites to move into the realm of social media and control the content. Even the legitimate news sources who do focus on social media as a way to put information out are still being overshadowed by the catchy titles and fake stories told by fake news sites.

The best way to avoid fake news is by obtaining it from trusted, legitimate news sites. Social media may be convenient and entertaining, but it is not a suitable method to educate oneself on current events. According to assis-

tant professor of journalism, multimedia, and public relations at Keene State College Dr.Marianne Salcetti, there are many reliable news outlets. “I encourage my students to take a look at New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC news, The Guardian. Then there’s some places that will have the scoop on something and will also have links, that would be sites like The Hill, and Raw Story, even places such as… TruthOut and Alternet.

But at the same time if they’re going to check out those sources which could be viewed as left-of-center. [For] right-ofcenter I would encourage them to check out Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes Business Week,” Salcetti said.

William Patti can be contacted at wpatti@kscequinox.com.

Claire Boughton can be contacted at cboughton@kscequinox.com.

SELENA LEGACY

Equinox Staff Thursday, March 28 is when all submissions are due for the Eco-Rep Sustainability event partnered with Plastic Pollution Alliance, which will happen on March 31 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Mabel Brown Room.

The event, Take Your Pic art contest, is where students and faculty can send in poems, pictures, or film of areas with pollution problems.

Rachel Loseby shared that sustainability is being more cautious about your daily roots of life: for example, reusing and composting.

“This event is a kickoff event for green month which is in April. Take Your Pic is a contest [where] you can submit all artwork online,” said Loseby.

Submissions can be sent in using https://tinyurl. com/y3ymptkt.

“There will be different contests, prizes, live bands and food available the night of the showcase,” Loseby said.

Chodus, a local band, will also be playing live music.

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Thursday, March 28, 2019

Lack of interest in politics

LUKE STERGIOU / PHOTO EDITOR

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke visited Keene State College on Tuesday, March 19, to talk to the college community and answer questions. O’Rourke spoke in the LP Young Student Center where many students were in attendance. The Facebook invitation says 141 people said they were going and 328 people said they were interested in going.

Low student involvement in politics causes concerns AUSTIN COOK

Equinox Staff Students are vastly uninterested in politics which results in them being underrepresented, according to John Iacobucci, President of the Keene State College Republicans.

There is a major election in 2020 and students need to become politically active.

“Politics, to college students, is something that they don’t see as relevant in their lives. Most college students do not turn out to vote,” Iacobucci said. “Students are focused on other things like hanging out with friends and school work. They don’t necessarily have an economic burden or the responsibilities older Americans have, so I think college students are not aware of the upcoming challenges in their life. They don’t under-

stand the intersection of politics with that or the importance of [politics],” Iacobucci said.

Just over 40 percent of the 12 randomly surveyed students at the Redfern Arts Center consider themselves politically active, and 92 percent are planning on voting in the 2020 election.

Joshua Bramble, a sophomore communications major at Keene State College, said, “The candidates are all pretty much the same. I really don’t have the time to care about the primaries. I will vote in the presidential election after things settle down.“ There are many issues that are important to students, but because they are not involved, their voices are outweighed by the older generations who do participate in the town meetings, debates, and give money to candidates, said Iacobucci. “Students can make a big difference, ” Iacobucci said.

Davis Bernstein, President of the Keene State Col-

lege Democrats, echoed Iacobucci’s statements. He said that politics aren’t something you can block out anymore; it affects your life every day, and student involvement is essential.

Bernstein was optimistic about students getting involved as the primaries approach. Bernstein said that he expects candidates to stop by Keene State College as the primary comes closer, and that this is going to be a chance for people to get involved, meet all these candidates, and find the one that meets their ideals the best.

“Keene State College is big about having students being civilly engaged and is interested in making sure that as many students vote as possible. The college helped last election get students to the polls,” Bernstein said. He also said that many students don’t vote because they cannot get to the polls.

Iacobucci said, “The Keene State College Republican [Club] believe it’s vital for students to get involved,

regardless of political leanings. We think it is accentual that everyone’s voice is heard, and we are all students at the end of the day.”

Both student political parties work to get voter registration and have voter registration drives. They have also had a cooperative drive back in November.

Iacobucci said, “I think that was a great sign of unity between the clubs, and it’s important for people to get out and vote regardless of political affiliation.”

Both Keene State College party presidents encourage all students to get involved now. “We are the leaders of tomorrow and if we utilize our voices as one, I think we can make a significant change in the policies that come from Capitol ill,” Iacobucci said.

Austin Cook can be contacted at acook@kscequinox.com

ACA Future Fair

PUJA THAPA / BUSINESS MANAGER

Academic and Career Advising (ACA) held their annual career fair in the Spaulding Gymnasium on Thursday, March 21, from 1:00 p.m to 3:30 p.m. Over 100 employers attended including the New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR), Affleck, Enterprise, and more.

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STUDENT LIFE / B3

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Volunteering at winter Special Olympics

Ski and snowboard club students lend a helping hand on the hills JACK HANSON

Student Life editor Four students and three faculty members volunteered at the Winter Special Olympics in Waterville Valley New Hampshire from March 3 to March 5.

Students Ryan Manz, Resa Barbeiri, Ian Bohrmann and Gino Catruch volunteered alongside faculty Bert Poirier, Jennifer Drake-Deese, and Scott Strong. The students are a part of the ski and snowboard club with Drake-Deese as their advisor. Drake-Deese said she first heard about the olympics last year from Poirier and Strong, who had recently started volunteering.

Poirier said back when he was in college, he had a friend whose brother passed away and was a special olympian. Then four years ago, they got together and he offered to let Poirier volunteer at the games. Poirier started going with Strong last year when they came up with idea to have students get involved. He said that the current volunteers are getting older and it would be a great community service for the students and exposure for the college.

“To have college-age students to interact with the special olympics was so neat… they were so helpful,” Poirier said. “They made an impact not only on the games and how the games were carried out, but on the participants, which was the best part about it.”

The games started on Sunday with time trials followed by competitions Monday and Tuesday. DrakeDeese said there were four categories of athletes, with category four being the most experienced athletes who qualify for nationals. The volunteers were responsible for making sure the athletes got up and down the course, and helped set up the course.

Drake-Deese said her students did not hesitate to help and it made her feel a sense of pride in herself and in them.

“It just makes you feel so proud when you have all of these other professionals who work with volunteers all the time all over the country, and every chance they had made the point to say either to myself or Scott Strong or Bert Poirier about what a great job our students were doing and can we bring them again next year,” DrakeDeese said. “So it just says if you’re not working hard, people don’t want you back but we were hearing from

CONTRIBUTED BY TANYA STURTZ

KSC students Ryan Manz, Resa Barbeiri, Ian Bohrmann and Gino Catruch at the top of Waterville Valley resort in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire.

the first day at the end of the first day they were like ‘please tell us you guys will be back next year. Please tell us your students are coming back!’ It was just really amazing.”

For Catruch, what he was doing was nothing special. “I always like to volunteer for things in general,” he said. “It was really involved where we were working a lot with the athletes. But most of the time it was just setting up the events like all the different ski courses, depending on what the event was, and yeah, just being there to help out wherever we were needed.” Barbeiri and Manz did not respond to comment.

Poirier said the athletes and other volunteers are expecting them to return and he wants it to become a Keene State tradition. “Every year I come back and it’s a moving experience. These athletes are just wonderful individuals and it’s not just the athletes… now we’ve developed relationships with their families as well, so we kind of look forward to seeing one another each year,” he said.

Poirier and Drake-Deese both said that they want more students to come volunteer and they do not have to be in the ski and snowboard club. There’s opportunities to volunteer with the opening ceremony, registra-

PICTURES Cont. from B1

“We have a local artist (the Plastic Pollution Alliance) supporting us, who let us take this opportunity and run with it. We decided to have it revolve around sustainability and the environment because it will bring it close to home, having it be the Keene area. The submissions can be promoting sustainability or the lack of sustainability in the area,” said Loseby.

After the winners are selected and showcased, the art will be online as a way to lower the carbon footprint and waste of paper.

“Our main goal is to let the students create photos, poetry, or film to promote the art of sustainability and revolve around the lack of sustainability to open up the eyes and show that we need more,” said Loseby.

Loseby’s main project is the composting aspect on campus. Composting is a major money saver and could create better food in the DC. She wants to add more composting throughout the campus.

The event coordinator for the contest and a part of the Eco-Reps Maddy Thomas shared that sustainability, for her, is preparing for the future and living in a way in which you plan to stay on this Earth.

“This is one of the biggest event the Eco-Reps have had because of our partnership. We are able to do much more with prizes and the band,” said Thomas.

“We want to portray that you can have fun but do it with the least amount of waste. Doing things more [sustainably] is a choice, and we want to show how we can do it with an event,” said Loesby.

They chose to keep the medium at photography, film, and poetry so as to not create as much waste and make work that can be put up online.

“Keene has a really good arts and media program and that’s why we chose that route,” said Thomas.

“It’s a really important thing to get involved and promote sustainability,” said Thomas.

Eco-Reps has more coming for the month of April, and is looking more into getting involved with the students for the future.

Co-Founder of NH Plastic Pollution Alliance and the artist of the event Danielle Baudrand shared through email what the Plastic Pollution Alliance is, “A small nonprofit based in Keene, NH and also a 1 percent for the planet nonprofit partner.”

Her goal with this organization is to engage the eyes of individuals

tion, etc.

If you would like more information about the ski and snowboard club or about the Winter Special Olympics, you can contact Bert Poirier at bpoirier@ keene.edu or Jennifer Drake-Deese at jdrakedeese@ keene.edu.

Jack Hanson can be contacted at jhanson@kscequinox.com.

T h i s W e “We want to bring attention to the issues of plastic pollution through art and science education with the goal of engaging communities to live more sustainably.”

e k

- Danielle Baudrand

a SEBASTIEN MEHEGAN / ADMINISTRATIVE EDITOR

with what really is going on in our world.

“We want to bring attention to the issues of plastic pollution through art and science education with the goal of engaging communities to live more sustainably,” said Baudrand.

They have been working in Keene on many projects for three years now.

“One person can truly make a difference,” said Baudrand. “Every time one person refuses a plastic straw, cup etc. it makes a difference. What we do in Keene affects us globally.”

The Eco-Reps wanted to bring in a local artist to express sustainability views and judge the contestants.

“We approached the Eco-Reps to see if they wanted to help plan a plas-

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tic-free event. The goal was to really step back a little and let other voices help inspire others. Together we have been planning the details and working together to make this happen,” said Braudrand.

Baudrand is thrilled to be working with such a great organization on campus, “It really is amazing to see this group so excited about hosting a zero-waste event. It gives me hope that change is coming sooner than we think, with this next generation stepping up and not afraid to tackle these issues. I admire all of them,” said Baudrand.

For the students that may be nervous about entering the contest, Bau-

drand said there’s nothing to be afraid of, “Being an artist, you put yourself out there and get scared of rejection. The good news is, no one will be rejected. In fact, the one thing I learned from showcasing my own artwork is that when you push yourself out of the comfort zone, even more fabulous things happen. All artwork will be projected on the wall at the art reception...The goal of the event is to have a celebration with zero waste. You don’t have to kill the planet to have a good time.”

Selena Legacy can be contacted at selena.legacy@ksc.keene.edu

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Thursday, March 28, 2019

Build Matter Boxes With Us! Wednesday, March 27 | 11am - 2pm | Lantern Room email caitlin at caitlin.howell@keene.edu for more info

To write for Student Life contact:

Student Life Jack Hanson

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World News/ B5 Thursday, March 28, 2019

WORLD NEWS

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Mud Season is here Throughout New England there are many ruts to get stuck in PATRICK WHITTLE

AssociAted Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Potholes, heaving bumps in the road, mountains of melting snow dumping gallons of water into rivers. And lots and lots of mud. It must be spring in northern New England.

The region's cold and snowy winter is giving way to an early spring and what is known as "mud season" in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. This year, it's muddier and bumpier than most since many parts of the states had especially rainy and snowy winters.

Officials say this is a bad year for potholes as the snowmelt causes havoc on the many rural, dirt and gravel roads in the region.

Clayton Stalker, a selectman in the small town of Westmoreland, New Hampshire, described a man who recently relocated from Brooklyn, New York, confronting his first mud season.

"This guy, he just had no experience at all with this and he was totally befuddled with his two feet of mud all the way up his driveway and a two-wheel drive car," Stalker said. "And I was like, 'Nope, nope, you're right, you're not coming out.'"

Many parts of northern New England were buried under higherthan-average snowfall this year.

Brassua Dam, Maine, near Moosehead Lake, got nearly four feet more snow than typical this winter. In New Hampshire, North Stratford, Berlin and Colebrook all had more than two extra feet of snow compared to a typical year, though southern cities and towns had more manageable snowfall.

All that snow has to go somewhere when it melts, and a lot of it seeps into roads, refreezes, and causes damage, said Dana Humphrey, the dean of the college of engineering at University of Maine.

"There's a higher prevalence of potholes this year. That's because of these storms that are a combination

AP PHOTO/LISA RATHKE

This March 21, 2019, road shows ruts in a muddy dirt road in East Montpelier, Vt. It's muddier and bumpier this year than most since many parts of the northern New England states had especially rainy and snowy winters.

of rain and snow," Humphrey said.

"I think this is going to probably be a worse than average mud season."

Todd Law, the director of the maintenance bureau of the Vermont Agency of Transportation, said the spring road conditions this year are the worst they have been in several years. Even spots on the interstate

highways in Vermont have undulating pavement. In the last week, Vermont crews have put 370 tons of patches onto potholes, and 610 tons so far this month, compared to 375 tons all of last year.

In the Connecticut River town of Rockingham, the town closed all 30 miles of its gravel roads last week-

end to through traffic.

"We are just really feeling the wrath of this past winter, and now it's extending into the spring," Law said.

Parts of the three northern New England states are also facing a moderate risk of spring flooding, the National Oceanic and Atmo-

spheric Administration said.

But the soggy season isn't holding back hearty New Englanders from some of the region's beloved traditions. Dixie Harris, a member of the family that owns Harris Farm in Dayton, Maine, said she expects the state's annual Maine Maple Sunday, scheduled for March 24, to

Drug Activity

KRISTOPHER RADDER / THE BRATTLEBORO REFORMER VIA AP

This March 13, 2019 photo shows Josh Dillingham in Brattleboro, Vt. Dillingham is in constant contact with Brattleboro Police and has shared his concerns about drug activity in the neighborhood with the chief.

"As a property owner, it's frustrating," he said. "We know they are selling drugs out of that building so why don't they just go in and see what's going on? I wish more could be done, but I also understand that these things can take time."

be as well attended as always.

"Mud won't keep people away, that's for sure," she said. ___ Associated Press writers Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vermont, and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed to this report.

Trump intensified attacks on Mueller report before release Trump intensified attacks on Mueller report before release

By JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump intensified his attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation in the hours before the report was submitted Friday.

The president, speaking to reporters on the White House lawn before leaving for meetings at his Florida estate, again repeated his claim that "There was no collusion. There was no obstruction. Everybody knows it. It's all a big hoax. It's all a witch hunt."

Mueller's report has not been released publicly. Attorney General William Barr released a letter noting his plans to write his own account of Mueller's findings and advise Congress of its principal conclusions as soon as this weekend.

Justice Department regulations require only that Mueller give the attorney general a confidential report that explains the decisions to pursue or decline prosecutions. That could be as simple as a bullet point list or as fulsome as a report running hundreds of pages.

Barr is required only to say the investigation has concluded and describe or explain any times when he or Deputy Attorney General Rob Rosenstein decided an action Mueller pro-

posed "was so inappropriate or unwarranted" that it should not be pursued. Barr has already said that the Justice Department denied none of Mueller's requests.

Trump and his allies have spent nearly two years trying to discredit Mueller. But the president has grown increasingly confident the report will produce what he has insisted all along: no clear evidence of a conspiracy between Russia and his 2016 campaign. And Trump and his advisers are considering how to weaponize those possible findings for the 2020 race, painting the probe as a failed coup while railing against investigations launched

by House Democrats.

Even if Mueller's final report does not implicate the president in criminal conduct, the investigation was far from fruitless.

His team charged 34 people, including six Trump associates, and three companies. His prosecutors revealed a sweeping criminal effort by Russians to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and showed that people connected to the Trump campaign were eager to exploit emails stolen from Democrats. ___ Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire

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Sports / B6

Thursday, March 28, 2019

A career high score

Lewis scores her one hundredth goal IZZY HARRIS

Equinox Staff On March 13, the Women’s Keene State Lacrosse team faced Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) down in Englewood, Florida, when senior Chelsea Lewis scored her 100th goal for the Women’s Keene State Lacrosse team.

“I was pumped up, I threw my stick on the ground and it was just really exciting even though we were losing,” said Lewis.

In 2016, Lewis transferred to Keene State from UMass Lowell.

Lewis said she is thankful that she came to Keene State College.

“My coach (at UMass Lowell) never gave me a chance to play and show what I can do… my coach here saw something in me and gave me an opportunity,” said Lewis.

Moving forward with the rest of the season, Lewis said the next goal is, “Winning the [LEC] championship, which I really think we can do this year. We have a really good team and group of girls.”

Lewis said that while she was excited to score 100 goals, “That was a big goal to reach and it was important, but winning the championship would be so much better.”

Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach Katie Clark said that she is happy for Lewis.

“It is a good achievement. She does put the ball in the back of the net, she does what she needs to do to help the team,” said Clark.

What makes Lewis’ 100th goal particularly special is she achieved it in only 3 years.

“There’s 7 people on attack, when it comes down [to] it, and a lot of different options, so for one person to obtain as much she has consistently in the three years that she’s been here is a very big accomplishment,” Clark said.

Now that the weight of scoring 100 goals is off Lewis’ shoulders, Clark said this gives her the opportunity to work on other objectives.

“I really want to get my assists up, and just winning in general,” said Lewis.

“She’s trying to be a little more diverse, trying to set other people up which is good too,” Clark noted.

“She’s obviously talented. I think she has good energy about her, [and] I think she does well working on her mistakes,” said Clark.

Emily Parker is a senior and midfielder for the lacrosse team.

“She made such a difference when she got here. I wanted to be as confident as she is. No matter what, she doesn’t really get down on herself. If something she does isn’t right, she tries to fix it immediately.

She corrects her mistakes,” said Parker.

Parker said that it is not that common for a player to score 100 goals, but it is more normalized for attackers. “[It is] a milestone for anyone that has been on attack or on midfield. It’s a good accomplishment,” said Parker.

“She definitely makes our team more energetic… she does a lot in terms of helping our offense especially. She’s a really good attacker. A lot of people look up to her because they want to make a difference like she does on our team. I think she pushes people to play harder,” Parker said.

“A lot of people look up to her because they want to make a difference like she does.”

- Emily Parker

Izzy Harris can be contacted at iharris@kscequinox.com

CONTRIBUTED BY PAXTON BLANCHARD

RECAP

Keene falls to UMass-Boston in doubleheader AUSTIN SMITH

Equinox Staff The baseball team falls 4-9 after losing both games of a doubleheader against 22 ranked UMass-Boston Sunday evening.

In the first game, the Owls went down 1-0 in the first inning after pitcher Brandon Heath let up a onerun single after an error left two men on base. In the second inning, neither team was able to get a run. In the third inning, Keene State scored when Connor Walsh singled to center field and Sam Czel got the run.

Throughout both the fourth and the fifth innings the score remained a tie at 1-1. In the sixth, however, it changed, UMass-Boston was able to change the score after a single to right center field allowed to runners to score. In the seventh inning Keene State was able to score after Tom Meucci hit a home run, leaving the score 3-2. This, however, was not enough to give Keene

State the edge, they failed to score a run in both the eighth and ninth innings. They fell to UMass-Boston 3-2.

In the second game, UMass-Boston came out strong: In the first inning, they scored two runs. UMass got seven runs in the first three innings. In the fourth inning Connor Walsh doubled to center field, Sam Czel scored the run. UMASS scored two more runs from the fourth to the sixth. In the seventh inning Tom Meucci grounded into a double play, John Tarascio scored. In the seventh inning UMass scored two more times to make the score 11-2. In the final two innings neither team scored. The final score was 11-2 UMass. This marks Keene State’s 11th straight loss against UMassBoston. Keene State will play against Plymouth State on Saturday March 30, Plymouth State is Currently 7-7.

Austin Smith can be contacted at asmith@kscequinox.com

MIAH PINARD / EQUINOX STAFF

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Luke’s Kickin’ Column

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Step up to the mound

Revolution Fall to FC Cincinnati at Home LUKE STERGIOU

Photo Editor The New England Revolution played the club’s first ever match against Major League Soccer’s (MLS) newest expansion club FC Cincinnati. The Revolution lost the game 2-0, adding on to an abysmal start to the season and plunging the team further in the Eastern Conference rankings.

Despite both teams lacking some key players, whether it was due to injury or international duty, the Revolution fell at home once again. FC Cincinnati were missing some key players, but still dominated possession and caught New England off guard. FC Cincinnati pressured the Rev’s defense extensively in the first half, forcing New England Goalkeeper Brad Knighton to make some key saves. Eventually, FC Cincinnati would break down the defense and Forward Kekuta Manneh scored to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

The second half started off looking the same, with FC Cincinnati pressuring and forcing turnovers left and right. The Orange and Blue would score again after midfielder Kenny Saief scored to double the lead in the 65th minute.

For the Revolution, this was a game to forget. The team did not seem motivated to play, players were turning over the ball left and right, and it seemed like the majority of the team did not have the drive to play that day. Fans were not happy, as a good amount of them left the game with fifteen minutes remaining. On top of that, the fans booed the team after the game ended. It was very clear that the fans weren’t happy with the team and even manager Brad Friedel.

Despite all the negativity coming from this game, there were some positives. Spanish midfielder and Designated Player Carles Gil played his heart out for the full ninety minutes. He seemed to be the only player that had any drive during the game.

He was constantly running around, trying to win back the ball, and doing everything he could to try and create chances for the Revolution to score.

Midfielder Scott Caldwell was subbed on in the second half and immediately changed the game. He allowed the midfield and offense to press higher up the field, forcing FC Cincinnati to defend more. He helped create some more chances in the second half, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Even when Juan Fernando Caicedo made his home debut for the club, the colombian helped create some chances and press higher, but it still was not enough for New England.

Rookie DeJuan Jones, who was picked 1th overall in the 2019 MLS Superdraft, made his MLS debut and looked promising, but no matter who came on, they could not change the outcome of the game for the Revolution.

The Revolution sit bottom of the Eastern Conference with only 1 point from a possible 12. Needless to say, fans aren’t happy. The team is losing at home, we can’t seem to find the drive to play, and fans aren’t sure whether or not it’s the players that don’t want to play or Brad Friedel’s insufficient tactics. It’s early in the season, but right now it doesn’t look too promising for New England. The Revolution host Minnesota United on Saturday, March 30.

Luke stergiou can be contacted at lstergiou@kscequinox.com

LUKE STERGIOU / PHOTO EDITOR

KSC baseball talks relationship between pitchers and catchers AUSTIN SMITH

Equinox Staff Pitchers and catchers are two of the most important positions on the baseball diamond, and oftentimes they are the closest.

The pitcher is in charge of delivering the ball for the hitter to hit, or try to strike him out. The catcher is the player who catches the ball and usually calls the pitches that the pitcher will throw.

Pitchers and catchers oftentimes have a closer bond than other players.

Senior pitcher Connor Johnson (CJ) said, “To be an effective pitcher-catcher combo, you have [to be close.]” The pitcher and the catcher are often roomed together in dorms to create a bond between the two, according to Johnson.

Johnson and Junior catcher Ryan Linehan have become close friends since Line-

han transferred from The University of Southern Maine last year.

“I’ve been here for two semesters, and CJ is one of my best friends here”, said Linehan.

The bond between a pitcher and catcher is important on the field as well as off of it.

“I know when a guy takes the mound, no matter who it is, what they’re gonna give me”, Linehan said.

The pitcher and the catcher are constantly communicating with each other throughout the game, whether that be calling pitches, or communicating shifts in the infield.

A shift is when the infield and or the outfield change positions on the field to help with which way a hitter usually hits the ball.

Because the catcher sits behind home plate, he is the only position on the field that is able to see the entire field at once.

The coaching also plays a part in

the pitcher-catcher bond. The coach chooses which pitcher goes in during the game and who starts. The coach also chooses which catcher will start the game and when to switch them up.

Coach Ken Howe said, “Right now, Ryan Linehan has caught every inning of every game we’ve played so far, and the last thing I want is for him to get beat up”. The position of catcher is one that is usually taxing on player’s knees, as the catcher is constantly in the squatting position.

After returning from their Florida trip, the baseball team is currently 4-7. The team traveled to Clark University on Wednesday, a game in which they won 9-7.

“I think it went better than people might think when they see the record coming out of Florida,” said Johnson.

The team played better than their record indicates, Johnson said, “People who

weren’t there didn’t see that we played well for eight innings and in one inning just gave the game away.”

While they did not leave Florida with a record above .500 (which is having the same amount of wins and losses), Howe said, “Our record doesn’t really indicate where I feel we are right now.” The baseball team will travel to play Plymouth State (game rescheduled to Pappas field at Franklin Pierce University).

The game will take place on Tuesday March 26 at 3:30 p.m., Plymouth State is currently 5-4.

Austin Smith can be contacted at asmith@kscequinox.com

Softball: There’s nothing soft about it ADRIANA SANCHEZ

Social MEdia dirEctor Courtney Votto, senior and member of the softball team has been playing this sport for 15 years.

Her father has been her mentor and coach through it all.

When Votto was in middle school, that’s when she knew she wanted to take softball to another level. “A lot of my friends I played with my whole life were going to college and playing, and seeing my sister come here and play really helped,” Votto said.

Votto choose to be an Owl because of her sister , Kayla Votto. “I knew a lot of people here, I knew the program and it was more comfortable for me,” she said.

Votto said the hardest thing about playing softball is the mentality you need for it.

“It’s more of a mental game than anything, people can get in your head very easily, and I think, yes, you need the skill and the talent, but you need to have a good mindset for it. You have to always push through and be positive when you mess up,” said Votto.

She said getting older and maturing has helped her with this.

Being a student athlete hasn’t been that hard for her, she said.

“I usually schedule my classes during the morning so I don’t have to miss them for practice,” Votto said.

Votto ended her sophomore year red-shirting because of a hip labral tear. Red-shirting is when an athlete is out of college competition for a year in order to develop the athlete’s skills or due to an injury.

A tear like this involves the ring of cartilage that traces the outside rim of the socket of the hip joint. She said she had been experiencing pain

for a while but didn’t think anything of it. But the pain only got worse, so she went to see a doctor. When she went to the doctor’s, she found out she had been playing with this injury for five years.

Before surgery, Votto did everything to prepare herself for it. “I like working out and being active, so I went to the gym a lot before my surgery to strengthen my hips and legs to prepare myself,” Votto said.

Votto said this helped her with the recovery process a lot.

“The recovery was faster than expected, I was supposed to be on crutches for six weeks but only ended using them for three days,” she said.

The most memorable experience she has with her team happened this past month during the Florida trip.

“We all played as a team, we were all there for each other, we had so much fun,” Votto said.

During her time being an Owl, she made the LEC All-Academic team.

Last year she hit her first home run, and said that was something she’ll never forget. Votto also hit .314 on base percentage in 24 games with two doubles and a home run.

She went three for three with a run scored against University of New England and went five for nine with two RBI in the doubleheader at University of Southern Maine overall, Keeneowls.com reported.

Last year was also the first time the softball team didn’t qualify for the LEC tournament, so she wants to make it to and win the LECs for her final year at Keene State.

Head coach did not respond in time for deadline.

Adriana Sanchez can be contacted at asanchez@kscequinox.com

BENAJIL RAI / EQUINOX STAFF

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Phil Racicot Phil Racicot Phil Racicot KSC’s new athletic director

CAILLA PRISCO

SportS Editor Keene State is welcoming a new Athletic Director to their faculty, Phil Racicot.

Racicot has over 20 years of collegiate athletic experience, most recently at Duquesne University, an NCAA Division I institution in Pittsburgh, PA. According to Keeneowls.com, Racicot said, “I’m very excited to be coming to Keene State. This position was very attractive to me due to the high level of commitment and support the institution demonstrates toward the intercollegiate athletics program. Much of my time and energy over the past twenty years has been devoted to [ensuring] that student athletes have the opportunity to obtain an excellent education and enjoy a quality student-athlete experience. There is no doubt that Keene State has established a great tradition of success both academically and athletically, and I’m looking forward to building on that.”

Dr. Denisha Hendricks, Keene State’s current Athletic Director, has a lot of faith in Racicot’s abilities as the new A.D and was a part of the hiring process.

“We had some really great candidates, and at that point, any of them could do the job. I don’t have any doubt about Phil’s abilities and whether he can do the job, he is certainly more than qualified,” said Hendricks.

An A.D. for a college or university has several responsibilities including managing a staff, coaches, and athletes.

“The biggest thing is just trying not to get anyone in trouble. Not to get in trouble with the college, the conference, the NCAA. That’s the main thing, that everyone does the right thing and stays out of trouble, the students are treated well, and playing by the book, and treating the staff well,” said Hendricks.

“The reality of the job is just solving other people’s problems, that comes with being in charge and I think Phil will do a fine job at that,” said Hendricks.

Keene State’s Assistant Athletic Director Abe Osheyack said he was “very excited about the new A.D.” “We are very excited to have Phil on board. We have spoken a couple of times on the phone since he has accepted the position and I am really looking forward to working with him,” said Osheyack.

Racicot’s experience and hard work brought in $16 million in estimated economic impact for the city of Pittsburgh and $600K in honorariums payments from the NCAA to the city of Duquesne. This brought national media exposure for the city and the university.

“I think Phil is going to bring a different perspective from his career and the various things that he has done. He has done a lot in the student-athlete development standpoint, which I think is a strength for Keene State to have. He’s shown time and time again that he can do this well so I think he’s going to bring a lot of things to the table that will benefit Keene State,” said Hendricks.

Dr. Denisha Hendricks will finish her term as Keene State A.D. in May of 2019 and Phil Racicot will start as the new A.D. on May 31, 2019.

Cailla Prisco can be contacted at cprisco@kscequinox.com

“This position was very attractive to me due to the high level of commitment and support the institution demonstrates toward the intercollegiate athletics program.”

-Phil Racicot

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